


Renewal

by fish_wifey



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, Getting Back Together, Mika learns volleyball, Romance, Slice of Life, Suguru is a sap, Volleyball
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-25 00:06:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14366655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fish_wifey/pseuds/fish_wifey
Summary: When Mika had said the words ‘teach me sometime’, she didn’t had a whole lot in mind what it might entail.Mika finds herself in the volleyball gymnasium Suguru has dedicated a lot of his free time and energy into.





	Renewal

**Author's Note:**

> My 60th Haikyuu!! fic! Of course it's for a rare pair 8D~
> 
> I wanted to write them a get-back-together fic for some time, and writing this was very easy~ I had a lot of fun writing their povs as being flustered and worrying about the other person... thinking the other person is so cool and gorgeous. When the feelings are just as mutual!
> 
> Please enjoy ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶

When Mika had said the words ‘teach me sometime’, she didn’t had a whole lot in mind what it might entail. Given that Suguru had invited her quite soon after they saw each other, her mind had given way to how this ‘teaching’ may be set into motion. In a more naive world, Mika had imagined watching a volleyball match. She knew Suguru had quite a few videos of them stored on his laptop. When she had been over, it had been a pleasant surprise to find out he didn’t own anything erotic. 

A play by play of his own match might have been too painful, but Mika wouldn’t have minded learning through watching the national team on TV. Surely there would be a book like ‘volleyball for dummies’ or online videos explaining everything. All in all, Mika’s expectations hadn’t prepared her for this.

To stand in a volleyball gym wearing her Nohebi physical education uniform, complete with white, unmarked sneakers. Mika had put her hair in a quick high ponytail on the notice that Suguru intends a hands-on learning experience. Standing alone at one side of the net (Mika had learned it was called a ‘court’ afterall), she watches Suguru issue instructions on today’s training schedule to the other third years. Some of them, Mika had seen play in the match Suguru lost. Others she recognized from the third year hallway. 

Suguru had put her here with a ball in hand to get ‘a feel’ of the texture and weight, then excused himself. _‘We don’t retire for another week and help the second and first years out a little while longer. I’ll be right back, Mika-chan.’_

Mika’s glances towards Suguru’s back do not go unnoticed by the rest of the third years, some of which are grinning and waving at her when Suguru isn’t looking at that particular player or direction. Unsure of the etiquette, Mika waves back, a little confused. Almost done with his instructions, Suguru catches one of his friends, Sakishima, who makes a peace sign to Mika. Suguru barks at them all to go train already, and their loud response is only muffled by a couple of laughs here and there. 

He owns a commanding presence that appears only during his club activities, and Mika still finds it as attractive as before.

Blushing around his high cheekbones, he runs back to her. 

“Sorry for the wait. I had to repeat the schedule several times… They were all so distracted. Miserable bunch.” Suguru said those last words with disdain towards the sub-captains he created for the afternoon, but Mika knew he was quite fond of them all.

“Nh-hn, it’s alright.” Mika smiles gently. The two stand in an awkward silence for a couple of seconds before Suguru, for the lack of anything better to do, wipes his hands at the front of his training sweater. He’s been nervous around her for a while now, a behaviour Mika recognized from back when he initiated courting her. By no means they were starting at square one, so Mika took the reigns into a positive direction. She wanted to learn, after all.

“Sooo, what do we start with?” 

At once Suguru lightens up, taking one of the balls for himself. His eyes squint and flicker towards the rowdier teammates. She sees how he wants to bellow orders to the rest, but his shoulders square up and face her way. It is nice to have all of his attention. Mika cannot deny she missed it.

“First, we’ll warm up the shoulders. You’ve been always short of breath with running exercises, so I spared you to come and run with us. I’ll show you the motions,” Suguru says, and he turns to face the wall. Suguru bounces his ball against the ground, which deflects to the wall, and returns to his hands in a nice arc. The bounce back is already something for Mika to admire. After a few times he doesn’t catch it anymore, and simply smashes it back with his right hand. 

“Whoops, habit,” he grins sheepishly, holding the ball. “We’re just going to bounce the ball back and forth. Let’s have some distance between and uh, don’t worry if the ball goes astray.” 

Mika blinks, unsure if she could be this smooth, this graceful, and so powerful. Her chest felt warm when Suguru remembered how she hated running. She’s shocked out of that fondness when behind her, harsh yells fill the room. Everywhere, the warming up starts, but not everyone is doing what Suguru wants her to do. 

“Ah, if the ball rolls as far as that net over there, try to yell ‘BALL’ really loud. Those guys will know to stop jumping and won’t trip over it then,” Suguru says as he guides them a little away from the net just in case. He watches Mika’s hands curl around the ball. She doesn’t actually have a ‘feeling’ for it at all. He notices, and touches her elbows slightly. “Hit the ball a few times, just with your palm, and straight to the ground.” 

Head spinning, Mika nods to herself, then stands straight and hits the ball with her fingers. “Ouch”

“O-oh, you should try and hit it with the palm, here, like this.” Suguru says, first blowing her hurt fingers, then shoving his ball in her hands and cupping his own over hers. He always had such nice hands, that would be forceful when he played, but soft and easy curling around hers… She can feel the time of training and passion put into the rough edges and calluses. It’s not unpleasant to her in the least. “Feel how it fits in your palm? Like that. Merely fingers aren’t used except for tosses, pancake receives, and other stuff.” 

Warm in the face from embarrassment and Suguru’s warm hands over hers, Mika manages another nod. She has no idea what pancake receives are or why food would be involved in a sport.

“Here, we can first try to throw it towards each other. Use two hands, arms over your head, and then throw it to the ground towards me.” Suguru shows it once dry, then runs away to stand in front of her. When he does it, Mika catches the ball, and he nods. After a while, Mika feels like this is child’s play, as if she’s not ready for the rest. A funny observation which will bite her in the ass later, she learns afterwards.

“Let’s try again to hit it, mhn?” Suguru smiles brightly. Mika can feel how much he’s been looking forward to this. He must have wanted to teach her volleyball even as they were together…

“Y-yeah, okay.” Mika says, the image of Suguru hitting the ball coming up in her mind. She’s been watching his back mostly when he did, the way his shoulder moves when his hands reaches up to smack the ball hard. Trying to put confidence in her own hits (and not think about his back…), Mika slams her own palm against the ball. It goes straight up and Suguru comes running towards her to catch it.

“Good power, but try to hit it towards me. In volleyball you’re not allowed to touch the ball twice, after all. So you cannot catch it, got it?” 

Nodding, this is one of the few things Mika understood a little when she watched their school play against Nekoma. Suguru takes the ball with him to stand on his earlier spot, then hits it towards her. His balls come to her in a straight line, less aggressive as when he hit towards the wall. Meanwhile, Mika’s sends the ball anywhere except towards Suguru. She apologizes every time he has to sprint after it or bend his body to somehow catch it. It’s a small feat that she doesn’t hit them up to the ceiling anymore, but this must be more exhausting for Suguru.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s good for my reflexes,” he laughs after jumping up to catch a stray ball that went over his head. 

“Watch out!” 

Mika hears a voice which isn’t Suguru, and turns towards the person who yells in time to see a ball aimed at her head. In shock, she doesn’t move, and then Suguru’s hand appears in front of her, stopping the ball that would have hit her face. 

“Takeda! How many times did I tell you to practice course control!? Off the court and one lap, now,” Suguru chides, throwing the ball to another player next to Takeda, who apologizes to Mika profusely. ‘One lap’ entails frog jumps, which Mika feels in her thighs as she watches Takeda crouch and hop forwards. She kind of feels bad for him, because he surely didn’t mean to hurt her. 

“S-sorry, I couldn’t react…”

When Suguru turns to her, he’s all sweet smiles and gentle affection. His fingers run below her bangs. “Don’t worry. I’m glad I could react in time. You’re not hurt right, just frightened?” 

The back of his fingers touch her temple, and for a second Mika is elsewhere. To an afternoon before springtime. The trees weren’t in bloom yet, and the air had a crisp feel to it. The sun didn’t reach all the way to where they’d gone, and her nose had run cold.. Slipped off shoes were standing side by side at the water’s edge, where they had refreshed themselves earlier. The underpass, grass beneath her bare feet, Suguru lowering his head and asking permission to—

“Mika-chan?” 

“Y-yes! No! I wasn’t frightened. Well, just surprised... a little. We should continue!” Mika puts up a smile, then finds one of the balls near them. “I think I’m ready for the next one.” 

Suguru sighs, blowing one of his bangs out of his face before he smiles. “Okay, next we have overhand passes. You’ve seen Sakishima toss to our wing spikers, right? We’re going to do that, but having the wall for practice first.” 

Mika nods, only understanding half of the words that left Suguru’s mouth just now. She’s glad for the distraction and having to learn something entirely new, while concentrating to throw the ball with only her finger tops, and have it bounce towards the wall again. Suguru is ever at her side, giving tips and shows her how to hold her fingers, thumbs. When she keeps messing up, Suguru stands behind her, running his hands over her arms to make her stand and move like he intends her to..

“See, I’m making a sort of triangle with my fingers and thumbs. Try to copy that,” Suguru says, and Mika immediately raises her own arms to put her hands under Suguru’s, even though she cannot reach in full without standing on her toes.

“Like this?” 

“Yeah, perfect. Here, a ball,” Suguru side steps to pick one up, then puts it on her hands’ formation. “Now try and lift it—yeah, exactly like that!”

Mika doesn’t know what she’s doing, but somehow the ball bounces of her fingers and into the air, returning to the exact same spot. A razor sharp focus straightens her spine. Suguru tells her to try and toss to him, and when she does, he catches the ball on his fingertips, then returns the ball in a high arc. When it comes down, it looks scary, but Mika’s hands are up in no time and they’re able to toss back and forth.

She finds herself smiling at the exchange. 

 

*

 

*

 

*

 

Her body feels warm all over, but it’s a nice sort of workout. Not testing her stamina or emptying her reserves like all the other sport activities. 

From where Mika sits, she can watch a inter-team practice match. She’s far enough not to get hit by any balls. Once or twice, a daring first year would come close to her, but then weedle away in fright Suguru would see. Suguru had gone out a couple of minutes ago, saying he’d get her refreshments. In truth, Mika had wanted to go with him, maybe pull him behind an unseen corner…

Giggling, Mika embraces her knees closer to herself, hiding her warm face behind the barricade. These feelings were all too familiar. She’s experienced them before, when she first fell in love with Suguru. Watching him enter the gym with five bottles of water in his arms and talking to a kouhai, she leans her head to the side. Falling in love again wouldn’t be such a bad thing. 

“—and try to keep up with the receives. If you’re truly aiming to become a defense specialist while holding the wing spiker position, that much is fundamental,” Suguru finishes speaking, and the kouhai is joined by another. They take parts of Suguru’s bottles, who must have helped his underclassmen bring them inside. One he keeps, giving it to Mika. 

“Don’t worry, there’s no supplements in them this time,” he grins, sliding down next to her. Mika uncaps the bottle and drinks, eager for the refreshment.

“You remember,” she smiles too. She’d been thirsty once, waiting for Suguru after club. Taking his bottle of water as a matter of principle while complaining about the long wait, she hadn’t stopped drinking in time until something that felt like water but didn’t taste like it had gone down her throat. The surprise had her inhale by accident, and the coughing afterwards had been humiliating. Suguru had felt so bad that he took her out for dinner. She’s declined back then, saying he stunk.

One of Mika’s other complaints during that time had been Suguru’s scent. Even if he toweled off, refreshed himself, and used deodorant, he always had this hint of hard work clinging to him. Knowing now how hard he worked, the scent doesn’t bother her so much anymore. She thinks that she would handle it better this time around.

“I do, you know. Remember,” Suguru says after a pause, sighing deep. His eyes are so full of warmth and memories of affection that Mika has to glance away, fidgeting with the bottle. “I’m sorry that I didn’t take… take better care of you and u-us back then. I feel so stupid now.” 

He touches the back of his head, and Mika’s fingers tingle with the urge to roam her own through the short locks. She wants to kiss him, and the urge shivers through her entire body. 

“It’s in the past, anyway. Don’t worry about it. What’s the saying… regretting doesn’t make it better.” 

“That’s not even a real saying, although it is true,” he smiles again, then stands up, holding his hand out. “You ready to continue?”

Putting the bottle aside, Mika holds out both her hands for Suguru to pull her towards him. She stumbles into his chest, more design than accident. Suguru takes her tripping serious and steadies her. 

“You okay?”

“Yep!” Mika smiles, glad she still can make the moves work. Suguru isn’t the only one who can fake out a crowd and referees. Mika twirls her ponytail around her fingers, watching a couple of guys who saw what she did and know that the trip wasn’t real. She gives them a cheeky wink, then turns towards Suguru. 

Starting over would be so much easier this time around.

 

*

 

*

 

*

 

 _Shit… that ball flew a bit to the right. Almost received. Did Mika-chan notice? No… She didn’t._ Suguru breathes a sigh of relief as he watches Mika pick up another ball rolled her way from the other side. Neither of them were exactly comfortable with the idea that Mika should learn how to receive yet. So for Mika’s sake (beauty) and Suguru’s (peace of mind), they decided to start serving balls to the other side of the net without having to receive any. 

Suguru keeps track of multiple things at once. While he’s a human shield to Mika, his eyes wander to serves, forms, frustration and success running in tandem between different parties. 

“Okay so… I throw this in the air and then run—”

“Wh- what? No, no no no, you can just stand!” Suguru laughs, watching Mika stand perfectly behind the court line to serve. “Here, I show you…” 

Heat shouldn’t creep up his neck like this. His face has no right to blush. But as Suguru’s hands guide Mika’s body, her arms mostly, into the serve position and motions, his heart freaks out against his ribcage. He hasn’t touched this beautiful angel that decided to bring shine back into his life in so many weeks. It’s not as if he forgotten how Mika feels under his touch; her smooth, perfect skin, ruined by his calloused, rough, and taped fingers. 

Balling them to fists to his side, he watches Mika throw the ball a little up, before she smacks it. Her form isn’t bad up to par with a junior high school kid, but the bit of power she possesses brings the ball quite forward. It almost reaches the underside of the net.

“Oh… that wasn’t good, was it?”

“Don’t worry about that! All beginners have difficulty in the beginning.” Suguru almost blurts out that she couldn’t do wrong in his eyes, but that would be too embarrassing to utter out loud. Instead, he picks up a ball and throws it to her. Mika catches it with ease, seemingly more acquainted with the ball. She tries again, and this time the ball catches the side of her palm, making it go sideward off the court. Her frustration is so cute that Suguru forgets that he’s surrounded by people. He remembers making her pout like that, although the memories of when he did it on purpose are muddled with the times he did it on accident, and actually made her mad. 

This time, he would be better. Without having to focus on club activities, he could be there for her a lot more. Be the boyfriend she wanted, the way his mother and father raised him to be. A gentleman who puts the girl’s feelings before his own. It’s hard to think about being gallant when Mika goes all-out on her seducing techniques. While she tries to act coy, she cannot fool Suguru a second time. 

He knows exactly what she’s up too. And as before, he really likes it.

It doesn’t take away from how flustered he becomes by the ‘accidental’ touches that then last longer. Trying to act cool about it, Suguru’s focus lies on teaching Mika the basics of volleyball, at least the things he guesses she could handle. They’re taking another small recess at the side of the gym. Suguru brought an extra protein bar for Mika too, who munches on it happily. In the crook of her arm is a bottle of water, and she checks her Instagram feed during the break.

When she’s done eating and drinking, Mika squats to put her things away. She wore the Nohebi issued sport’s outfit, and the ¾ thighs hug around her calves. Suguru feels somewhat thankful that she hadn’t chosen to put on the shorts for today. His mind remembers nonetheless the way her legs looked like, bare beneath a skirt.

How her feet had gone under the water, playing around with his. The underpass where they had their first kiss, holding hands and—

“Oh so, how about receiving?” She asks out of nowhere. Suguru’s eyes go to the clock. It’s evening already, and they’ve been at practice for a good two hours. Mika spots sheen of sweat at the nape of her neck, and a couple of droplets near her temples. Suguru’s mind shouldn’t be as dirty as it is, but he can’t help think of other stuff when she looks like this. 

“Aren’t you tired yet?” He asks, hands on his hips and his back to the rest of the gym. He knows what’s to come, and isn’t made to wait long; Mika’s dirty grin spreads, two rows of perfect teeth. 

“I’ve been trying to work on my stamina, you know? I’m sure I can keep up with you.” She walks past him, all hips sways and swagger. Cool girls don’t look back to check if the boys are looking, and as Suguru watches her walk, he fights the urge to teasingly pull at her pony tail. 

Taking the challenge, Suguru follows her to their corner, where he had been privately teaching Mika. All nervousness of before is gone at this point. Suguru still is adamant on trying to re-impress his girlfriend.

The word makes his feet stutter and pause. They never established what they were, now. Suguru couldn’t just boldly assume that they were back together, especially without clarifying this. 

“What’s the matter?”

“Hmm?” He shakes himself out of his thoughts, and gives her a warm smile. “Oh, nothing. Say, would you like to go to MOS burger after this?”

“Oh, I would love to!” Mika says, hand on her stomach. Suguru nods. When Mika eats, she’s in a good mood. 

And he can totally ask her if she wants to be his girlfriend again.

 

*

 

*

 

*

 

Watching her eat and enjoy her food was one of Suguru’s most favourite things. 

In the beginning when they started dating (the first time), both of them had been well-mannered. As Mika would take small bites out of her food and be polite to him, so Suguru would return the sweet gestures. This changed one afternoon at MOS burger. Hungry from a lengthy walk in the mall and a park, they had said no to all temptations of food, until they were actually hungry and in need of it. As soon as they had sat down, the couple of them _inhaled_ their food, manners and decorum forgotten.

Ever since, they ate like they meant it. Suguru would sometimes pause to dust a spec of sauce of her cheek. Mika would blush, and boop his nose as a silent ‘thank you’.

Such things didn’t change, even after a break. Suguru finds himself digging into his food after practice, with Mika sitting next to him slurping her drink. They had gone up to the upstairs seating area, less busy with other patrons. Eyes drawn to Mika, Suguru watches her happily eating her fries, a soft hum on her lips. Watching someone eat shouldn’t be filling him with this much joy, but he could hardly change the way he feels.

Or ever felt about Mika.

Heart burning with this rekindled need to be with her, Suguru’s hand picks up a clean napkin, and he absentmindedly cleans the corner of her mouth during a munch, as he’s always done so many times before. Mika lets him, sitting still. Then she swallows her bite and flashes him a warm smile. 

“Thank you, Suguru.” Her smile is so warm that Suguru’s cheeks blush on their own. They continue eating in silence. 

“I’ll walk you home later, okay? I know your mom…” Suguru laughs as Mika rolls her eyes.

 

The stroll to where Mika lives is more lively with idle small talk. They catch up with each other in no time. Mika asks about Suguru’s family, and Suguru asks about her father’s business ventures.

When they reach the name plate and Mika’s gate, Suguru stands a little off. Looking up through the gate, he knows where Mika’s bedroom is. Where he once hid flowers and notes. He thinks of doing that again. Telling her in print how much fun he had with her today, and maybe confess that he wants her back. 

“What did you say?” Mika asks, her eyes a little wide. Suguru blinks back into reality, holding a hand in front of his mouth.

“What—Did I say something out loud?”

Mika blushes, her smile private. She looks to the ground, to their feet. Suguru watches as hers step closer to his.

“You said ‘want Mika back’. It sounded like a child…” The way she looks up to him gives Suguru the best kind of flashbacks, and he knows what he could do. What she may want him to do. But he can’t be 100% about her feelings, so he re-enacts the past. Bringing them closer together, Suguru’s hand reaches out to touch her cheek. 

“I do, actually. I would like to… be with you. Again,” Suguru ends in a fluster. While he wants to look away. Mika keeps his eyes on her. 

“Well aren’t you lucky. I feel the same way.” Mika laughs as she stands on her toes, touching his hair as she reaches for the back of his head. It’s a sweet laugh that carries into an even sweeter kiss. Suguru closes his eyes half a second later, dipping into the temptation. 

And a hopeful future.

**Author's Note:**

> This ship means honestly the world to me... I am also busy writing the next chapter for 'Hiss hiss, kiss kiss!?' so anyone looking forward to that... Just give me a couple of weeks~
> 
> If you liked it, it would mean a lot to me to hear so ;u;


End file.
